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January 13, 2015

I am really loving these t-shirt quilts! I've now made three using the same method, and each one is better and better.
I made one for a relative for Christmas, and another for my husband, and here are a few pictures I took...

Above is a picture of all the pieces sewn together, before it was quilted. I've found that around 50 t-shirts makes a nice size quilt.

Below are some of the funky quilting designs I used. I quilted this on a long arm quilting machine, which really helps because of the bulk!

I describe extensively how I put these quilts together in my original post, but here is another picture of my list...

A description of the shirt, the shirt color, the size I end up deciding on based on my pattern (below) and the size I need to cut the shirts, with seam allowance.

I've improved my process for making patterns. I still zoom out as far as possible in powerpoint, create squares in real size, and make them the same color as the t-shirt they represent. I also like to add the dimensions in parenthesis, so I don't have to click on each individual square and look in the formatting tab for the size every time. Pretty cool, if I do say so myself ;)

If you compare the above picture with the one below, you'll see how they coincide. There were quite a few more oddly intersecting pieces in this quilt than in my original, but if I sewed with 1/2" seam allowance, and stopped 1/2" from the end when sewing those odd sections, eventually everything matched up ;) It's not for the faint of heart - but it is doable!

Below is a picture of the second quilt I made this holiday season - all quilted and ready to be trimmed and bound. I always like the simple, swirly quilting design. As you can see, I used much larger pieces in this quilt - and had a lot more white space. I had fewer t-shirts to work with, but still wanted a good size quilt. I prefer when things are cropped tighter, but if you don't have the 50 or so t-shirts needed to make a large quilt, you can always do as I did and leave a lot of blank space around the logos.

On all three I've used soft, neutral colored flannel for the backing, and warm and natural cotton batting.

These create such a wonderful, useful and unique keepsake! I definitely see more in my future ;) My girls have already started setting aside their sports t-shirts at the end of each season for some day when I'll make one for them!